Buried Treasure Mint Brownies

The most flexible recipe I can imagine allowing a completely different result every time based on one’s whim or inspiration. These holiday brownies are embedded with Peppermint Truffles and Candy Cane dust and topped with a Candy Cane Kiss. A chocolate-mint lover’s heaven! These are gluten free so they are flexible also to any dietary needs.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1

Servings Dependent on the yield specified by selected Brownie Mix

Calories 206kcal

Author Toni Dash

Ingredients

1 package of your favorite brownie mix (I used Pamela’s gluten free Chocolate Brownie Mix)
Peppermint Truffles , I used Lindor (I used 12 for a 9x9 pan; scale quantity to the size of your brownie batch)
2 6- inch Candy Canes , ground in a food processor or blender to make dust, divided in half
Candy Cane Kisses (use same amount as the truffles)

Instructions

Preheat oven to the temperature specified on your brownie mix. Line the recommended pan size (from your brownie mix) with parchment paper. Note: the parchment paper makes it very easy to remove the batch of brownies from the pan to cut them.
Prepare the brownie mix. Pour half of the mix into the prepared pan.
Place truffles evenly in the mix (plan on one per brownie and space accordingly). Dust the top of the mix and truffles with half of the ground candy cane ‘dust’.
Spread the remaining brownie mix on the top of the truffles and first layer to cover. Note: you may find the truffles stick up through the top layer; don’t worry! They will melt and harden again through the baking and cooling process.
Dust with remaining candy cane dust and bake for the recommended time. Test for doneness in the brownie area (not truffle) and remove when a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool until barely warm to the touch and place the candy cane kisses on the top of the brownie batch approximately over the locations of the truffles. Do NOT put the kisses on too early or they will melt! They do not require much heat to slightly melt on the bottom and stick to the top of the brownies.
Place in the refrigerator to cool fully (this allows the truffles to re-harden). When cool, remove the batch from the pan (you can usually just lift them out by the parchment paper), cut and serve! Any remaining brownies can be stored in an air tight, sealed container in the refrigerator.

Notes

Other ‘buried treasure’ ideas for the middle layer:

Rocky Road brownies: chopped walnuts and mini marshmallows

Salted Caramel: mini caramels dusted with sea salt OR Justin’s brand caramel-chocolate cups

Peanut Butter: Peanut Butter cups and chopped peanuts (or for those allergic to peanuts Sun Cups which taste like peanut butter but are made with ground sunflower seeds and chocolate)

Candy cups: almost any chocolate covered candy or nut would be great and melt into the middle of the brownie

Nutrition